Wednesday, December 31, 2014

So tonight we say good-bye to 2014 and as we look back while the details are different the landscape is the same as usual. There were some big highs and several lows. Personally I clicked off a few more of my bucket list items. Dianne and I found ways to find ways to create new experiences together as a couple. I saw both coasts this year and spent time with old friends I don't see often enough.

This year saw some great moments. Not a few friends were able to legally marry, a right that was blocked by law for them until this year. I saw the world come together to turn a stupid challenge into a windfall for those combating the horrible syndrome of ALS. Despite the horrible catalyst of a brutal video of an NFL player punching his fiance out the country is having a serious conversation about domestic violence. Oh and the NFL moved into new territory by drafting an openly gay player.

We also saw low points. The rise of ISIS, a terrible summer for Israel kicked off by the murder of a three teen-agers, riots in towns after the death of young black men at the hands of police and of course both the tragedy of Ebola and the irrational fear around it.

As all years we had a little of everything. What is important is that we try to make the next better by fixing what we can, moving on from what we can't, and acknowledging what we have. As we say good-bye I will take note of the fact that I have a wonderful family, a smart and growing young man for a son and wonderful wife who not only loves me but gets me. I have friends who span the globe both in location and ideology. I have a great job, wonderful if changing colleagues, and a stronger support of fellow educators than ever before. In the new year I turn 50 as does Dianne and Noah heads off to college. It will be a year of transitions. So raising a glass to 2015. May it bring all the joys you want and none of the travails you don't need. May you go from strength to strength.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

So I have Christmas off and even though I don't celebrate it I enjoy the way the world slows down. So I spent a lot of time today doing little and thinking a lot about the holiday season. This can be a frustrating time of year. It is not the overwhelming tinsel bombing of the country, but that is a symptom of the situation I struggle with in this context. You see most of my Christian friends are honoring and respectful of people who don't celebrate Christmas and are knowledgeable or inquisitive about that and other Jewish holidays. So when I see something like this I shake my head and wonder:

Bud Williams, a city councilor in Springfield, Massachusetts, attended a menorah lighting ceremony with prominent Jewish community leaders. When it was his turn to speak, he lectured the group about how important Jesus was to the holiday season. According to Williams’ shaky logic, Jesus is the reason for the season – even the Hanukkah season.

Seriously, WTF? Why would anyone say this? Hanukkah has nothing to do with Jesus and in fact the story of Hanukkah takes place almost 200 years before Jesus is born. Now I know that for some it is hard to understand a holiday that last year started on Thanksgiving eve and this year ended on Christmas eve. But this is just nonsense. Why are there some people who feel the need to impose their own religious ideology on everyone. Each year Fox News brings up the War on Christmas. One of the main themes of this is that some stores do not say "Merry Christmas" but do in fact say "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holiday" are somehow destroying the holiday. What is actually happening and what Mr. Williams didn't understand is that our culture is changing. More and more people who were invisible by design are getting a chance to be noticed. This seems to disturb so many and I think that part is that they feel their superior position is slipping. When others are get a place at the table, those who have been there forever can't spread out as much. That is not a bad thing. But people do feel hurt. What I wonder about is how weak their faith in their faith, themselves and their tradition must be to not allow others to express themselves in public. Especially when we think of a holiday like Hanukkah, a holiday that some see as a holiday about religious freedom. I have friends from many different faith traditions and they hold their faith deeply. I can't imagine any of them denying someone an expression of their faith or trying to step on it with a trite cliche as this guy did. So as Christmas day winds down and the season will soon be in the rearview mirror I hope everyone continues to grow in their faith and in that growth find room to allow others to do the same in the New Year. I hope that people will embrace the growing expressions of the diversity that has always been part of our country and not feel threatened by it. I hope that when next year at this time when someone says "Season's Greetings" it doesn't become an opportunity for a boycott but the kind thought that it is. Oh and I also hope that when we all share who we really are with others we can get the best out of us all. Happy holidays to all now and throughout the year. Whatever holiday feeds your soul.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

I know you have heard it before. Last summer I went on a diet, a meal plan. I lost some weight, I patted myself on the back and I moved on to gain more and more. It was never anything of a problem I told myself. I mean I needed new pants and the comfort-fit waste band was a cool invention. I really didn't think much about my growing stomach until a child ask me if I was going to have a baby. Even when James Gandolfini died a day before my 48th birthday I knew I had to get my weight under control but that soon faded. I remember from June to July of last year I went from 224 pounds to 218 and had a party. By the end of August I was again at 223 and by December I was stable at 227. That was what I was, stomach, comfort-fit and that cringe when I saw a picture of me from the side.

In July I registered at 231 and my blood work was a mess. My doctor was not happy, and frankly neither was Dianne and Noah was all over me. So I downloaded a simple ap called My Fitness Pal at my Doctor's suggestion and started monitoring my intact of calories, sugar, fat etc. and keeping track of exercise or the lack there of. It was immediately educational. I plugged in some numbers and it gave me an allowance of calories etc. to follow. A huge database of food allows me to know precisely what I am taking in and I did the one thing I never did before. I bought a kitchen scale to see exactly how much of stuff I was eating. It is remarkable. When I went back and looked how much I was eating I was well over 2500 calories a day. Now I am between 1600-1800. I don't skimp on what I eat, as anyone who reads my other blog knows and I just eat less and I am not hungry. It is quite revealing. I think sometimes I just ate for the joy of eating. But now I eat a limited amount at each meal and I am still happy. I don't feel like I suffer.

Oh and I have started losing weight. From 231 in July I have now found myself at 210 and still losing. People have started to notice and say something and and old friend recently said I am looking like my old self. I feel better, have more energy and move around better. What is remarkable is that for years I have resisted the simple act of watching what I eat. When I was a kid I could eat anything at anytime and was always skinny. I am glad that I am taking this route and glad that I can make it work for me through technology. I am grateful for the opportunity and the challenge of making food that fills me up and tastes good that doesn't make me compromise.

Oh and just so you know I am not a zealot, I still have days I eat 15 chicken wings and a mess of potatoes. I still love Dianne's fried chicken, and Noah's recent birthday we all had a great cake with butter cream frosting. But I know that eating is a life time venture and like keeping kosher it is about awareness and choices. I plan to continue. I plan to continue to lose and I plan to be with us for a long time as Noah asked me to the other day. I hope this is the last time I write this.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

I wanted to write about this week since it had a very busy news cycle of stories that interested me. I was hoping to comment on many of them.

The Stealing of Nude Photos of Famous Women: So someone hacked into the cloud storage of many people stealing and posting famous women's personal photographs in various states of undress and in some cases sexually explicit. This was a theft and an invasion of privacy. The fact that they were stored in electronic form in a protected fashion made it analogous to storing printed photos in a safe deposit box at the bank. There was an agreement of privacy from the cloud server company. But it took less than a day for people to attack the women for owning the photographs or for putting them in what thought was a safe place. So let's think about this.
1. Should people take pictures of themselves in the nude? Well that ship sailed when the first photographs were invented. In the 1800s people taking nude pictures and even creating pornographic images. I remember an amazing exhibit at a museum in New York of personal movies and photos from when my grandmother was in her 20s. So to be clear, this was made by my grandmother's generation. The Polaroid made it even more common, and digital photography made it ubiquitous. And yet these women are attacked publicly for having these available in their private archive. Should celebrities be held to a higher standard? Especially attractive, celebrity women? It seems like the idea here was that they should know people want to see their intimate pictures and so not have them. I wonder how many of those commentators would give me access to their passwords for their archives. Bottom line is we are sexual beings, technology allows us to explore that with imagery, bodies are not dirty unless we make them such, and frankly the hacker who stole them is a lowlife. That should be the story. Not questioning whether the women should have these photos.

Bob McDonnell: So Governor Ultrasound was convicted for the brides he took as Virginia Governor. This was not an issue that was a surprise. What is a surprise that some people thought this was a political attack and others suggested that it was a prosecution that was not necessary. Think about this. A governor, one that ran on family values, was taking bribes to act on behalf of a wealthy friend, in a state with lax ethics standards. The federal government had a strong case. The defense was to throw his wife under the bus. Seriously, how could anyone defend this guy. It is amazing. We are so politicized that a straight up liar who sold access to his office is considered a victim for being prosecuted.

Joan Rivers: Joan Rivers died this week. She was a pioneer and someone who kicked down the door to allow so many women to walk through. Rivers created a new way to be a woman in a man's world of entertainment. She embraced the gay community from which she built tons of fans and stood with them to fight discrimination. I miss that Joan Rivers but I have for a long time. In her later years she created a persona that was built on attacking people. While I understand in a lot of ways it was a character it also could at times get caustic. We do wish her family comfort during this time and her legion of fans who will certainly feel her loss.

Michael Sam: The first openly gay man drafted by the NFL was cut by the team that drafted him. In part because he didn't fit in their scheme. There is some indication that his sexuality may have played a role but that is not clear. He was put on waivers and was picked up by Dallas for their practice squad. Almost instantly people assumed it was social engineering. Sam is a good player and was a great college player. He is not built for the NFL in skill and flexibility at his position. But he showed he can play at least at a level that can help a team so Dallas is not losing anything to have him on the practice squad and his ceiling is pretty high. What is remarkable is that we know about his sexuality because someone was going to out him before the NFL draft. He took control of it and said he wasn't going to hide who he was. That was brave. It clearly didn't help his prospects (most defensive players of the year in the toughest conference in college football get looked at in the draft). But we know there have been many gay NFL players. In fact in the 70s Vince Lombardi stood up for them. The guy who the Superbowl trophy is named after. The difference is that Sam has opened the door for those NFL players who don't want to hide who they are to live their real lives. Sam may never take a snap in a regular season NFL game. But he will change the culture of the NFL a culture that has asked gay players to hide themselves may now allow them to be open. That is a good thing.

It was quite a week and this is just a small sampling of the stories we encountered. I wonder what will happen next.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Today is a day of remembering the past but continuing to look into the future. It was today in 1987 that Linda was murdered. Taken from me and the world and thus changing drastically the trajectory of my life. For many years I would think each year about what my life could have been if she had lived and mourned the lost of my possible life. But last night I went out to spend some time by myself only to discover all that I have in life. A great son who is now an adult, a wife who cares for me and is amazing in many ways, a life full of friends who stand with me in good times and bad, and even an ex who's dedication to our son has helped him grow into the man that he is becoming.

I was thinking how a few years ago I was thinking about Shoah (Holocaust) education and wanted to remember the words of a survivor who I spoke with when she said the greatest way to get back at the Nazis was to live a fully life. Remember, don't let it happen again, but live beyond the tragedy of the Shoah. I realized that was good advice for me. For my life. I will not forget the life that was ended and what it could have been but I will continue to live my life fully and enjoy all the moments not in the pit of despair but in the light of joy that we can enjoy in the world.

I raise a glass to the memory of Linda Akers, she is still missed. But I also lift my glass to all those who help to make the life I developed since Linda's death. We need the memory but we need to continue to build memories. Thank you all, as I look back, there are so many great moments and the expectation of so many more.

Friday, August 1, 2014

I have purposely avoided writing much about the current situation in Gaza. I am not sure if it is fear of not being heard well or if it is just I don't know what exactly to think. I do pray that the children of Sarah and the children of Hagar can one day find a way to share the land and share a future of mutual respect and dignity. But I am asked every day my thoughts and I share them. I am troubled, frightened and yet I still remain hopeful. I know it is hard to have hope, but I do, I do because I have personally seen it in the eyes of both young Palestinians and Israelis. I have heard it from the lips of old grizzled Jews and Arabs. One day there will be peace. It will not be easy but, I have hope. Many more people wish for peace than we know about as the stories in the news focus on the shiny objects of the radicals that call for violence or twist the situation to their own narrative. We can find a way to bring peace to Israel and there are people ready to lead the way. A real peace, with a secure Israel and fear of terror at a minimum and a free and Palestinian people. I know it is possible and sometimes I think I will live to see it.

But there are those who don't share my view and too many of them have either power of office or low voices. There is right and wrong that is easily seen. Hamas calls for the death of all Jews. It is difficult to negotiate with a people who just want you to die. What do you offer? To die slower? But Hamas is not the Palestinians and there is hope for a future where they no longer hold the sway they do today. But there are reasons that many still cling to their violent ideology. We have seen a bit of that today. A blogpost in The Times of Israel with the uncomfortable title of When Genocide is Permissible was published and quickly removed from their website. The author, Yochanan Gordon, is an American Rabbi and writer dropped this literary bomb and a world already becoming more angry at Israel for the rising death toll in Gaza of civilians. In it the argument is clear, Hamas is bent on the destruction of Israel so anything Israel does to end Hamas' ability to do so is justified. An argument I could follow in many ways. Someone coming to kill you does not necessary retain the right to have you not fight back in a dirty manner. But the problem is that if you do there are people who do not want you dead who could get hurt. It will never be okay to blow up a plane full of people to kill the one person bent on evil. Though there are arguments to suggest that while not okay it may still be necessary. But Gordon's argument goes further than that. He doesn't want to blow up the plane, he wants to blow up the airport, the travel agent and perhaps even the taxi driver who took the man to meet his flight. He is arguing that civilians under the oppression of their leaders seem to allow for terrorist tunnels and rocket launchers to be placed in their neighborhoods, homes, mosques and even hospitals. To Gordon these people are no longer innocent civilians but terrorists as well, he concludes this piece with this paragraph:

I will conclude with a question for all the humanitarians out there. Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu clearly stated at the outset of this incursion that his objective is to restore a sustainable

quiet for the citizens of Israel. We have already established that it is the responsibility of every

government to ensure the safety and security of its people. If political leaders and military experts

determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then

permissible to achieve those responsible goals?

How do we get here? How does a rational mind find this to be the answer. Genocide should be an anathema to any Jew. Our history is riddled with the attempts by others to kill us all. Even our Biblical tradition can be seen to include the likes of Amelek and Haman, and through it all our tradition continued to preach forth a message of humanity and dignity for all people. We are all the children of Adam and Eve, we are all created b'tzelem Elohim. It does not mean you stand by and let someone kill you, but is also means that it is not our place to decide an entire community should be eliminated. Judaism is not a religion of death and destruction but of life and humanity. My Muslim friends would share the same value. Islam and Judaism teach that all life is sacred. But so many leaders who are driving this have forgotten that is true.

I can't get a scene from Shakespeare's Henry V out of my head. Henry, the king in disguise is walking among his men on the night before a great battle. Still unknown to his men he approaches a group and when seen as friend this dialogue takes place. The battle that dawn will bring does not seem likely as a victory for the English. A hopeless battle but one that will be met.

When I think of this and the current situation in Israel I have no doubt that the IDF is fighting for a just cause. While the tragedy of the numbers of civilian deaths in Gaza eat at my heart, I have no doubt that if Israel wasn't as careful with their actions as they are there would be many many more. Listening to those who choose to fight for Israel they have no doubt that what they are doing is righteous even if the outcome sometimes is horrific. But in Israel and and world wide Jewry we see Jews mourning that loss of life. How different would it be if the leaders of Israel took Gordon's advice and instead of fighting for security were hell bent on the destruction of the Palestinian people? Would the cause be just? Would the men's action truly be wiped of the crime for following their leaders? I don't know. What I do know is that as Hamas has called for genocide their actions do not meet the simple standard laid out by Henry here as he attempts a seemingly unwinnable battle. The cause of Hamas is not a free Palestinian people, it appears it is death to Israel. That is where I can comfortably stand with Israel now and not fear that I am in the wrong. As long as Israel continues to see this and act as this is a battle for security I am standing with them and yes while I do that I can also mourn the dead in Gaza, and seek a way to make life there more bearable. That is not to say that Israel is never wrong. But that is for a different post.

Today we saw naked ugliness from a person who seems to have forgotten his teachings as a Rabbi and as a Jew and as a human being. No one should call for genocide and send young men and women into battle for its sake. Thankfully it was someone sitting in the comfort of the insular community in suburban New York and not an Israeli cabinet minister. But we should remember that if you think that Yochannan Gordon was repugnant, he speaking almost in the form of a question. Rhetorical as it may sound. For Hamas there is no question. There is only one answer, death to Israel. Sadly they have the power the arms and the backing of a rich Arab state to try to make it happen. They must fail not only for the sake of the Jewish people but for the soul of the Palestinians who would not win behind a just cause. Everyone involved in this is human, and with all calls for genocide, that humanity is diminished if that becomes your cause.

Pray for the Peace of Israel this Shabbat and pray for the dead of Gaza, many are innocent caught in the on-going hate and anger. Pray for a world community that doesn't want an answer but seems to want emotion. Pray that one day we will all find a way to live in peace and we can all share in the glorious feeling of community.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Recently I have heard again how social media is bad for us. Our language and the nature of communication itself is said to be breaking down. I have heard this before, when telephones became ubiquitous, letter writing suffered, when email was universal but costly we saw more contractions than a maternity ward 9 months after a blackout, when texting became common, who even answers the phone? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter all gives us not only a singular chance to connect with others but also with the formerly unreachable. Movie and sports stars, media people and of course the celebrity class all interact with ordinary people via those media. It allows us to influence others we normally would not reach and frankly is partly responsible for the bringing down of tyrannical governments. Now like anything it can be used to organize hate too, so I am not Pollyanna about it. Hate groups have found a wider audience, terrorists have become wizards of using it to organize from far away and of course the cyberbullying and destruction of reputations is common place. But that is part of human nature. We will always have the good and bad with anything.

But there is something special about social media that links people who have a common connection but not necessarily a bond. We can follow the lives of high school friends who have grown away from us, sometimes finding a way to mend relationships broken over stupidity of youth. We have a wider audience to share joys and sorrows and people who understand. The death of a parent or sibling, a new grandbaby, a 25th anniversary and a diagnosis of cancer have all crossed my screen in the last few weeks. We are more open with people because we can avoid the fear of that instant shock that often comes with a life changing event. The distance of cyberspace allows for reflection that doesn't happen face to face and our response can be more measured and helpful I believe.

But whats more it has opened discussions that were so taboo that they had led some to remain in terrible situations or feeling alone. Women in abusive or unfulfilled relationships found a place in the early days of chat rooms to work out their situations and find allies to help them move on or get help. While the media screamed about the internet causing a rise in divorce if we looked at the actual reason for many of them we found that the relationships were not in great shape before AOL sent discs to us 5 times a day. Even more so asking questions about subjects not easily discussed in person come up all the time. Questions of health, sexuality, and economics all can more easily be expressed talked about and answered through various forms of social media than in person. Sometimes talking to people that you are seeking advice or support from causes them to move away from you in flesh and blood moments but for some reason people seem willing to be there for people through the screen.

Even what I am doing right now is healthy for me. Even if no one reads it. It is my diary, my note pad, and while on occasion I get paid to speak to groups, (reasonable rates and variety of topics, call me if you need a speaker) no one wants to simply hear me rant about things. So I can rant here, you can choose to read or not, I can feel I got it off my chest and the world is in balance.

Each time media has moved forward and found a new way to connect people we run into those that will find everything that is wrong with it. That is normal. But I think that if we remember there is a real person on the other side of the screen and in the social media world they have chosen to check in on your life there is value there and we will learn to use it better.

Friday, July 25, 2014

The other day I sat in a room to discuss why Muslim and
Jewish congregations are involved in the Global Interfaith Partnership, our
program that provides food and education opportunities for orphans and
vulnerable children in Kenya. The reason
for the question was to help our Duke interns understand why our religions
compel us to help in this situation when those helped are predominately
Christian. The answer was not
difficult. Both are faiths have examples
of people who worked to ameliorate the lives of people outside our traditions
as well as scriptural commands to do so.
The question I would ask is why more of us don’t help the person we see
as other?

That is not too difficult to answer in some cases, especially
with minority religions. As humans we
are more likely to give something up, be it money, time, food, or our life for
family first, tribe, country, faith, more so than for a stranger. This is part of human nature and in fact it
may be hardwired. That is why I believe
the great religions of the world emphasize the importance of helping the
stranger, because it is not easy. So
when it happens people take note. Nowhere
did I more note of this in my own heart was with a group of Muslim youth known
as SallamCorp, who worked to raise $10,000 a few years ago as part of our Kenya
Carnival fund raising. You see these
youth focused their understanding of what was expected of them by their faith
to help strangers. Out of that experience
I made good friends and found a form of solidarity with others, who like me,
struggle with how to focus our attention to those in need.

So yesterday brought some news that is hard for me to
process. As we were going to lunch one
of my colleagues mentioned a story in the news about a plane crash with a
father and son on an attempt to fly around the world. The local boy was from Plainfield and part of
a mosque we were familiar with through our multifaith activities. Minutes later came the email from my friend,
Shariq, who informed me who the boy was.
His name is Haris Suleman and he died when his plane crashed off the
coast of American Samoa. A 17 year old,
about the age of Noah, who was attempting to fly round-the-world to raise funds
for Citizens Foundation, a nonprofit organization that build schools in
Pakistan.

Haris was a member of that SalaamCorp and I remember his
energy, though quieter than the girls in the group, when it came to the work
for our Kenya Carnival. He died doing
what was close to his heart, helping others, and he will be missed not only for
what he did, but for the loss of potential that our future will never see.

In the world today many people are dying over hate. Throw a dart on the map of the land masses of
the world and you will strike within 100 miles of someone who will die today
because of hate. Those are the stories
that define this summer. Gun violence in
American cities like my own Indianapolis, Chicago, LA, or the continued fights
in the Middle East, terror in Africa and violent protests in Europe. We have become almost numb to mass shootings
where instead of stopping to take note the political voices run to microphones
to scream platitudes. So as Shabbat
draws near, as the closing days of July usher in the move toward a new school
year and as we think about the growing unrest that dominates our evening news
shows and the radio and TV screamers, let’s stop and think about the Haris
Suleman’s of the world. A young, Midwestern,
Muslim boy, an American teenager (who we are told are selfish and introverted
every day in the media) who lost his life trying to help those who can offer
him nothing. Except maybe the chance to
make strangers friends. Perhaps that is
what we should all strive for in our lives.
Perhaps we should all try to be a little more like Haris, and perhaps
that is the answer we can give people when they ask why Jews and Muslims would
join a group designed to help almost exclusively Christians. Because, the bottom line is, that is what you
do when you are fully human.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

A few years ago while traveling in Kenya, our interfaith group was asked to preach at various churches in the region where we do our work. On Sunday morning we got dropped off at various places and after lunch we gathered on the bus to head to our afternoon meeting. As the only Jew, I was happy to see my friend Shariq, who is Muslim and the only other non-Christian traveling with us. I asked him how it was for him to speak at the church and he told me he preached, if you will, about the Muslim ideal that if you save a single life you save the entire world. My response was "I love that line, especially in the original Hebrew". The joke was taken for what it was, the clear connection between the ethical teaching of Judaism that fed the early writings of Islam and drove much of Mohammed's understanding of the world. So when I think of the animosity today that is driven by Islam when it comes to Israel and even to all Jews I weep. I wept even more yesterday. Three young men had their lives taken as the latest result of the "Had Gadya Machine" as it is called by the great Yehuda HaLevi. Three Jewish teens were killed after being held by Hamas on the West Bank. This act of cowardly terrorism had unified most of Israel and world Jewry at first wishing for the safe return of the boys and now mourning their loss. I wonder how a tradition that borrowed so much from the pillars that hold up Judaism can so easily ignore them for the sake of killing Jews. I wonder just want that means in the grand scheme of things. The first thing I read about it was a Facebook post from a teacher and friend Amichai Lau-Levi. He wrote from Israel: אנא אל תיקום דמם.ה׳ אמת.ברוך דיין Please God do not revenge their blood.

It was a powerful statement, because in the moment I read it I found myself struggling with a growing anger. An anger that I can't find a way to fully wrap my head around. As a member of the Jewish community who sits comfortable in the MidWest of the US, I can't begin to understand what life is like for those who have to sleep at times in bomb shelters, who have lived with the idea of pizza shops blowing up and now have buried three teens, simply because they want to live in the land of Israel with their families. Later in the day I read more from Lau-Levi, a man who has been helping us see our ancient tradition with modern eyes but focusing on the message of love that we inherited through the ages. He wrote:

I personally see no point in vengeance, in endless circles of retribution. There is no justice to be gained, even when decisive measures will and must be made to bring the murderers to trial and to stop such future actions. More blood will not bring the boys back. This is just one person’s opinion. A former soldier, so tired of recycled rage. There must be another way.

There must be something more we can do. But today I still feel the anger. In part because there are so many of our people throughout the history of the modern state of Israel who have sought real peace. Who are voices trying to rise above the din of hate who take up the cause of the Palestinian people, and every time we seem to feel that we can move forward we are punched in the face by a heinous act like this.

Tonight I am angry, for the lives of the boys, for my friend who just kissed her daughter good-bye as she joins the ranks of many young Americans who make Aliyah, for the people I met on the West Bank and in Jerusalem who have been struggling for peace. But most of all I am angry because it is stories like this that make me want to feel less compassion, who make me want to throw my hands up and say "they win" if they want a fight let's bring it to them. I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to feel that negativity, I don't want to hate.

In a few minutes I will join my local Jewish community for a service of remembrance. Perhaps that will help me find the way to give up the angry feelings. Maybe it will pass as I read more from people who want to truly seek a solution and not just turn the crank on HaLevi's machine. Perhaps I need to find a way to think around this. But I will indulge myself a few moment of the anger and then seek hope. Help me find it.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Two men who live in Texas fell in love. They wanted to marry there but couldn't as the law prohibited it. So they traveled to Washington DC and married, returning home to celebrate with family and friends. They are legally married and have the documents and all to prove it. So, like many young married couples they wanted to have a family. So they used modern science and the help of a surrogate to have two babies. The process sounds more complicated than it is. Each of these men contributed sperm, using donor eggs two zygotes were formed, one from each male contributor. They were then implanted in a surrogate who carried the babies to term. The surrogate, from my understanding, is not the genetic parent of either child. So the babies are born and while it is common for married couples to have both their names on the birth certificate and be able to simply adopt a spouses biological child that was blocked by a judge in their home state of Texas. The birth mother's name is on the birth certificate and the two men have their children but no legal documentation of it. Simply because they are gay.

What happened during the time the two babies were bring brought into this world, the federal court deemed the Texas law banning gay marriage as unconstitutional. An immediate stay means Texas still doesn't perform gay marriages nor recognizes them from other states until this winds its way through the courts. Right wing judges, like in this case, are trying to avoid setting an precedent in the hopes that Texas can remain free of gay marriage. So two men, married legally and their two children suffer.

What is wrong here? It is clear that marriage will not be limited to a man and woman in the near future. Both societal pressure and legal rulings will make it certain that gay couples will be able to be married and recognized for it throughout the union. While marriage is a state issue, state laws can't trump the US Constitution and there are many federal judges who are seeing that these laws are in violation of rights there in.

I understand there will be objections. First from religious people who deem homosexuality a sin. While various interpretations of the scriptures used have modified the absolutist position of the holy texts used, there is certainly an argument that it is a sin and those religions should be allowed to have and even share those beliefs. But not to the point where they force those beliefs on others. No one should or is suggesting that the government should force churches to marry and bless unions of any kind that they don't approve of in doctrine. I personally would fight for any faith tradition that is being attacked by the government. But those religious doctrine should not stop the government or even other faiths from blessing marriages between two people of the same sex. A good analogy is that for my people pork is considered forbidden. It violates Biblical laws of Kashrut. It is not ambiguous in the Bible (I would argue that prohibition of homosexuality is in the Hebrew Bible but that is a different post). But Jews aren't running around trying to close BBQ places and Butcher Shops. In fact there is a clear distinction that these rules of eating apply to us, not someone not of the faith or culture. That is true of many religious laws that Jews follow. Why should a minority of people who find homosexuality a sin be allowed to use the government to enforce them on others.

Now some argue that with the opening of society to gay marriage they will be forced to participate if they are in a wedding related business and of course they cite examples of bakers who discriminated against a gay couple and others. But here is the thing. Your faith does not allow you to trump local and federal laws. Time and again laws have been put in place that protect the rights of the minority. If you are in a business that your personal beliefs might be violated by anti-discrimination laws then you can choose to not be open to the public or find another business. This is true if your beliefs don't allow to be comfortable with gay people marrying each other or races mixing or people who carry guns. Local laws may require any business open to the public to serve all people within reason. If you choose to have a business that is open to the public you should figure you are going to serve people who violate your faith's tenets. People like the bakers often cited didn't seem to have a problem with supplying cakes for second marriages and marriages of people who lived together first. This seemed to be a specific attack on a gay couple. That is morally wrong and where they lived it was legally wrong. Though let's be clear it was not criminal. Damages had to be sought in a civil court system. Recently there was a bit of thing here in Indy were a popular summer spot was hosting a party and a security guard told a person wanting to join the there were too many black people inside so he was stopping more from entering. This was seen as universally wrong by people who commented on this story to me. Why should that same feeling not extend to gay couples who want a cake or other service?

Now the other major factor when it comes to gay marriage is the so-called "ick" factor. This is where people don't want their government to condone it because they don't like the thought of it, often citing their own children. Some how a gay couple walking hand-in-hand in public or getting married forces some people to talk about sex to their two-year old but a straight couple not so much. That seems to be the argument because if government endorses gay marriage then kids will see more gay people openly. I don't understand this argument at all. Plenty of people think tattoos on women are a sign of lower class. There is an "ick" factor for them. You can just check out comments on some Twitter or Facebook feeds. I have two lovely friends who are sharing their summer bodies on Facebook, and well their ink is not normally as on display in their walking around world. Some have commented that they think it looks trashy. (I find it as an amazing form of art). But in no way is there a movement to outlaw women getting tattoos. Why? Because it would be seen as mind-numbingly stupid. Women have the right to get said tattoos even if you don't like it. And yes you may have to explain to your child at the beach why that women has writing on her side going into her bathing suit or what that large eagle is doing on another's thigh. But that is part of parenting. The world will always be a dynamic place and you should face up to it and be prepared for it. Two married gay people or tattooed women can't be harder to explain than why someone would kidnap 300 girls in Africa, 3 teens in Israel, or fly planes into large buildings. I think this is a useless argument and one that should be ridiculed often.

Gay people, like straight people, like Bi people like Asexual people love. Sometimes they fall in love and sometimes they want to build a life together. The government shouldn't stand in the way of that. That Texas judge is not supporting a position that makes sense and will likely be laughed at by the next generation. I think it is time to no longer be silent. I think we should force the hand of our representatives and others to do what is right. Let's have a nation wide dedicated effort to allow those who want to build a family together not be barred from it by the sex of their partner. This is real for many people and it is something that is just about what is right.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Memorial Day will always be the day we buried my father. In 1978, when the parade was going through town, we stood at the end of the city, along the lonely highway, and watched as his casket was lowered into the ground. A man, too young to be dead, had lived a life of dense experiences. His childhood was marked by the Great Depression and when the United States called he joined the ranks of those who fought, first Europe, then was on a ship to invade Japan, and later served in Korea, where he was injured and spent a while as a guest of the North Koreans and Chinese as a POW. Decorated and a career man he stayed in the service of his country until after I was born, being discharged in 1966. But what was important to me was the little things, teaching me about baseball and playing with us as much as he could. Teaching me to fish and showing me how to gut and fillet our catch. He also showed me what is right and wrong, not always in the most enlightened way, but my dad saw a clear line between right and wrong and made sure we knew it. What I have of my father is the stories. Some he told me, some I learned from family and some from my own research into his life. It was last year I learned he had ancestors who were French Canadian who lived in Upper Canada. I learned from my mom that my dad was on someone who wasn't the perfect soldier as I discovered his rank bounced around a little in his military records. I learned from finding my own hoarded papers how much he cared about my education growing up as he wrote a note on my old elementary school report cards. Those story bounce around my head and I tell them to Noah. It helps him influence the grandson he never met.

Memorial Day is a holiday that is dedicated to those who died fighting for our country. When my dad died it was more than 10 years since he was in active duty. But I have always believed that his military career contributed to his early death so it was fitting that on the day we honor those that gave their all, we said our last goodbye.

I, and a few of my friends, grew up without fathers. I am not sure how different we would be if they had lived and frankly I am not sure it worth a lot of energy thinking about it. But what I do know is that I have taken from him a good bit that is part of me and for that I am thankful. So this weekend I will remember him, more than a fallen soldier and perhaps that is how we should remember that for all those we remember today. They are more than their service to the country and someone is missing them today. Perhaps we should ask for them to tell their stories.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Recent events have reinvigorated
the calls that our free speech is being destroyed.Clivin Bundy, the rancher who has been
refusing to pay grazing fees, was caught on tape in a rant with racist
language.Then came Donald Sterling,
owner of the LA Clippers and his infamous recorded phone call where he tells
his girlfriend she can have all kinds of relationships with minorities just not
to publicly display them.It was quite a
week but what do really mean when we say free speech?

There is a natural right to believe
what you want and to let people know. That is clearly something that
predates the various legal protections of that right like the Bill of Rights in
England and of course the 1st amendment. But freedom to say something is
not the same as freedom of consequences.There seems to be a strange thing however, people seem to want the
ability to exercise their right but not have anyone comment on it or cause
consequences.

I am a strong advocate of the 1st
amendment that protects us from legal consequences for stating our ideas.I can say anything publicly that is opinion
and no law can make that illegal.(technically there are some cases where laws violate the 1st
in my opinion)This concept is difficult
for me some times, for example, it is not a crime for the God Hates Fag Church to stand outside my building and
protest. We might want to have them arrested but that just makes it
harder for us to voice our opinions if the government can pick who can
speak.We don’t always agree with the
government.But their protest does not
need to go unchallenged.

Protesters of every stripe all have
the right to say what they say, and I would like to see everywhere in the world
that they are protected from government intervention and arrest. Saying
something bad about the king, president, government or produce shouldn't be a
crime. (BTW free speech advocates should be really upset about certain
states having laws where you can't disparage certain food items).

When it comes to the results of
recent events, people have been screaming about thought police.There are no thought police in this
country.No one I know has advocated that either Bundy
or Sterling be arrested for their words. But let's take Bundy. He
was a classic example of a person that drew on the liberal/Conservative
divide. For some he was standing up to the tyranny of government
over-reach (even though it was Ronald Reagan that was the over-reacher by executive
order about grazing fees). The right rallied around him and the left thought
the right rallying was insane. Which it really was, this was not a worthy
expression of their anxiety. When the racist diatribe was released, it
poured gasoline on the fire of the debate but what happened, many on the right
that totally stood with him abandoned him immediately. Why? Because
his words were so offensive that they didn't want to be splashed with the filth
that was being spewed. (Though some on the right stood by him and tried
to explain how what he said wasn't racist). Those abandoning him did not
diminish his right to say what he said. It just means he will have fewer
champions.

Now Sterling is more complicated as
he is a more complicated man. He is both a champion of minorities and
someone who has been fined for discrimination in housing. He is someone
who has befriended African-Americans in some significant relationships,
including a lover, and yet said foul things about individuals on his team and
of course the recorded phone call. He was known as a horrible person for years,
you can find articles dating back 10 years about his racist views and yet it
was not as cut and dried as now. The NBA decided to go nuclear on him,
fine him the maximum, suspend him from the NBA for life and convene a meeting of
owners to force him to sell the team. NBA has the right to say he can't play in
their sandbox and that is not a violation of his free speech.Yet again we hear the cries of suppression of
free speech and of course also attacking his girl friend as a criminal for
taping him.

Speech comes with
consequences. Be it businessmen, elected officials, clergy or the guy or
sweeps the school. A CEO with an opinion about gays that flies in the
face of most of their customers will be fired, an elected official who calls
for the death of a fellow member of Congress could be sanctioned and in a
perfect world lose in the next election, a clergy person who openly defies a
tenet of their faith could be let go by their congregation or in some cases
defrocked by the hierarchy and the janitor in a school who used school
emails to promote a position on legalizing drugs can be fired. All
of those people are exercising the freedom of thought and speech and all suffer
natural consequences for it. That
is not to say that we can’t call any and all of those things wrong.That would include Sterling’s
punishment.But what is not correct is
that some how we are destroying a freedom.

There will always be consequences
for speech in a free society because the same freedom that allows you to say
something is the one that allows others to react to it. It isn't thought
police, it is society setting a public standard.

If Sterling or Bundy who I both
find offensive were to be arrested for their words I would fight hard to make
sure they are released. But until then they have the right to think and
say what they will, and we all have the right to hold them accountable.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

It is 4:30pm on Sunday and I am sitting in my office waiting for the start of a special program. Tonight kids from around the city will be coming to Beth-El Zedeck for an awards night. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and those of no faith will celebrate the work they did over the last several months to put on and promote the Kenya Carnival. The Kenya Carnival is a fundraiser and awareness raiser for the orphans and vulnerable children in Western Kenya and part of the Global Interfaith Partnership. Students here in Indiana attempt to raise money to help students get the tuition they need for secondary schools education which is only partly funded by the government in Kenya. Their efforts help fund education which is the greatest gift we can give the children of Kenya to help build their communities ravaged by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and colonial destruction. It is also meant to create an understand of the plight of these young children, many without any parents, who struggle day-to-day and sometimes hour-to-hour to get basic necessities that we all take for granted. It is a remarkable undertaking and one that I think could easily be seen as highly valuable in and of itself.

But what I find remarkable is the ancillary benefit for the youth here in Indiana. I know I have harped on this before but one of the values we hold so dear is the multi-faith aspect of what we do. So often these kinds of things that we do are a great deal of lip service. We struggle to find the time to truly invest in learning about the other. We sometimes go to a lecture, a program, a celebration. But more often than not we are merely tourists observing someone else, often a stranger, in their own situation. Like going to Israel and standing in the back of a church during a mass, or getting yelled at by the nuns at the Church of the Nativity for not being serious enough. Even worse is the zoo model, where we watch others in their faith practices as if we want to see them in their "natural habitat". But these kids who work side-by-side for a good cause have made a great deal of effort to get to know the stranger in their midst. They have learned to pray together as one group, not leaving others out. They have balanced the notion of sacred time and sacred space, understand we don't all operate on the same clock. They have found a way to deepen their own faith while learning from their friends of another faith. Never explicitly teaching faith but living it and by doing so allowing others to learn about it.

Interfaith work, what I tend to call multi-faith, is a valuable effort in our ever more diverse society where faith is becoming more personal and faith traditions and religions seem to sprout more and more branches each year. But too often we strive to learn about the faith and not the people of faith. The Global Interfaith Partnership and the Kenya Carnival is about people. People learning about people who motivated by faith strive to make a small corner of Kenya a better place for the youth who live there. And in doing so get to expand their own vision of the universe that gets a little bigger with every new friend we make.

If you get a chance to help with this by visiting http://www.globalinterfaithpartnership.org/ and making a donation, reading our story or getting on the mailing list know that you are supporting a powerful life changing program. Not only for the people who are benefiting for the food and education we provide, but those who here in the United States get to meet someone they may never normally meet, and learning that there is more to the world than they thought. And isn't that the greatest gift you can give.

Monday, February 17, 2014

This is the victim impact letter I am sending to the Parole Board in Syracuse. I thought I would share with you that results of lots of thinking and finally sat down last night to write it.

Dear Parole Board,

I am writing this letter as a
victim impact statement to be considered at the upcoming parole hearing of
Jamie Morton, Inmate number 88C0405. On August 31, 1987 Mr. Morton stole
the future I was building with my fiancé, Linda Akers, when he chose to murder
her in a senseless and brutal act.

Mr. Morton violently beat and
stabbed Linda for no reason except to vent his anger at a world he felt was
unfair. But more then stealing Linda and my future, he took a light out
of the world. Linda’s work with young children, especially during her
time at the Bishop Foery Foundation, was focused on reaching vulnerable and
at-risk children. She wanted to make a difference in the world,
especially those who were often unseen or ignored by society as a whole.
She never got the chance to make her mark.
I never saw Mr. Morton show remorse for his crime, in fact at times I
felt he was proud of it.

My first reaction is that Mr.
Morton should never leave prison; his crime is not one that should allow him to
ever enjoy the pleasures of the world that he has made darker by his
actions. But I am torn with what to write. I believe in justice over
vengeance; I believe in rehabilitation over the idea of locking people away
forever, even for murder. If Mr. Morton has served his time honorably and
without incidents of violence or dangerous behavior, and if he will add to the
world’s good as opposed to evil, should he not be released? But how can we know how he will react if
released?

Because of Mr. Morton’s crime, I
would not consider him eligible for parole unless there is substantial evidence
that he has indeed changed for the better while incarcerated. I believe the burden of proof rests on him,
and that burden is significant.

When weighing your decision, I hope
you see that Mr. Morton took the life of a woman who was dedicating her life to
young children in the hope of making the world a better place. I
also hope that you honor the values of the legal system that seeks to not
simply be a punishment, but also seeks rehabilitation and reform. I have
moved from Syracuse, I have built my life and while I still have a big hole
created in the past, I think I have found peace in the last 2 decades.
But I am haunted by the idea that another person will be put through the same
pain I have been through because of Mr. Morton’s actions. So I hope when you decide on Mr. Morton’s
future you do so with Linda’s life lost in mind and the chance that others
might be at risk. I do not envy your
position in making this difficult decision.

Thank you for taking my words into
consideration while you deliberate.